Four days after becoming a Tory MP, Zac Goldsmith has publicly confessed to adultery.

His admission yesterday helped smooth the divorce from his wife Sheherazade, which took place at the High Court in only 30 seconds.

The split could cost the multi-millionaire £100million, dwarfing the £24.3million Heather Mills won off Sir Paul McCartney.

But the timing could not have been more convenient for him, coming after he went to the polls.

Last week the father-of-three became the Conservative member for Richmond Park, South-West London, winning with a 4,091majority over sitting Liberal Democrat MP Susan Kramer.

Whirlwind romance: Sheherazade and Zac Goldsmith at their wedding in 1999

Yesterday, in court, there was no mention of the identity of the ‘other woman’ in his marriage. But she is understood to be blonde heiress Alice Rothschild, 25.

Court documents state that the marriage broke down when Mr Goldsmith, 35, confessed an affair to Sheherazade in April last year.

Asked why she was claiming the alleged adultery, Sheherazade wrote in the divorce papers: ‘The respondent admitted his adultery to me.’

In his sworn statement to the court, Mr Goldsmith wrote ‘Yes’ to the question: ‘Do you admit the adultery alleged in the petition?’

Their quickie divorce was granted on the grounds that it had become ‘intolerable’ for Sheherazade, 36, to live under the same roof as her husband.

District Judge David White granted her a decree nisi in the High Court Family Division.

The Mistress: Alice Rothschild and Mr Goldsmith are said to have enjoyed 'four-hour trysts'

Zac is the son of the late Sir James Goldsmith, the billionaire financier who had three wives and even more mistresses and once declared: ‘A man who marries his mistress creates a vacancy.’

He married Sheherazade on June 1, 1999, just a few months after meeting her in a cafe and sending her flowers and his number. Their children are aged ten, seven and six.

Friends are said to have known for several years that Mr Goldsmith was seeing Alice Rothschild, scion of the wealthy dynasty and the younger sister of his brother’s wife, Kate. Her liaison with Mr Goldsmith started in 2006, when she was 22 and he was spotted making four-hour visits to her West London house in the afternoons.

Initially, these meetings were explained away as her helping him to organise a poker tournament. It was only a year ago that he confessed to his wife.

Since becoming an MP, Mr Goldsmith is entitled to a Parliamentary salary of £65,738, but that is dwarfed by his inheritance.

When his father died in 1997, his £1billion estate was locked up in a family trust. Like his siblings, Mr Goldsmith received a £10million lump sum and gets an annual income from the fund which can run into seven figures.

Thanks to his inheritance, Mr Goldsmith has been able to indulge his passion for the environment.

After being expelled from Eton for smoking cannabis, he carried out environmental work and became editor of The Ecologist magazine.

His friend David Cameron then made him his environmental adviser.

The couple’s spokesman said: ‘Zac and Sheherazade are proceeding towards an amicable divorce, which reflects the best interests of all parties.’ The spokesman denied the timing of the divorce had been linked to the election.